Central Bucks Board Member Calls On Superintendent To Resign

DOYLESTOWN, PA — A school board member, who said he was misled by the administration over how his autistic, non-verbal son was treated in a district classroom, is calling for the resignation of the superintendent and two other administrators.

James Pepper, at Thursday night's school board meeting, publicly accused Superintendent Steven Yanni, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Dr. Nadine Garvin, and Director of Human Resources Robert Freiling of misleading him about the alleged mistreatment of children, including his son, by a teacher and an aide inside a special education classroom at Jamison Elementary School last fall.

According to a complaint filed by a staff member at Jamison last November and quoted by members of the public during the board's public comment session, children were improperly restrained, physically punished, left undressed for extended periods, prevented from drinking water and communicating using speech devices.

After an exhaustive investigation, Warwick Township Police reported no findings of any abuse or crimes committed, according to the superintendent. The classroom teacher involved has also denied any wrongdoing.

Yanni, in a letter to district parents sent out Friday morning, said that given the sensitive nature of alleged physical child abuse, the district "cannot and will not comment on the specifics of any case. Doing so could inadvertently hinder an investigation being conducted by law enforcement and/or violate a student’s privacy rights."

After learning about the allegations through a complaint, Yanni said the administration launched an internal investigation, made multiple ChildLine reports, and has consulted extensively with the Warwick Township Police Department.

"Our investigation and those of the Warwick Township Police Department included interviews with staff involved in or supporting the affected classroom; the school’s principal; and the supervisor of special education," said the superintendent.

"Neither our investigation nor those conducted by the Warwick Township Police Department found any child abuse. We were informed by the Warwick Township Police Department that their investigation was shared with the District Attorney; no charges were filed."

The investigation did uncover some instructional and classroom practices that need improvement, said a district spokesperson.

"The teacher is being given the support needed to improve in these areas," said the spokesperson. "The pupil services, human resources and special education departments are monitoring the situation to ensure that the instructional and classroom practice deficiencies are rectified satisfactorily."

The spokesperson added, "The board should be reassured that the district has and will continue to cooperate with any law enforcement or children and youth investigation, that there have been no findings of any abuse of any child in the district, and that the safety of our students is and always will be our top priority."

Pepper said he's "beyond angry" about what happened to his son.

"My son was treated like an animal. But at its core, he was treated worse than an animal. When the administration found out about it, multiple people lied to me and my wife ... I was told there was nothing to see here. That it was a personality conflict between an aide and a teacher in the room and that the problems in the classroom reveal nothing more than instructional concerns and that the district found no evidence of abuse.

"My son is not an animal. He is a beautiful boy who is loved. And all three of you need to go," he told the three district administrators. "There is no place for any of you in this district. You can never, ever be trusted again with anything let alone protecting our children," he said.

Pepper accused the administration of "hiding behind" the determination of Bucks County District Attorney Jenn Shorn that "allegations of child abuse were unfounded ... Jenn Shorn made that
call not to prosecute knowing, at a minimum, that there were multiple witnesses to my son being physically punished by forcing him to walk barefoot across wood chips for taking his socks and shoes off. I was wondering where the splinters in his feet came from. And she decided not to prosecute.

"When she made the call not to prosecute she declared open season on all nonverbal children with autism in Bucks County," Pepper said.

Pepper became visibly emotional as he shared the feelings of his wife with the board and the community in a written statement.

"I'd like to thank those courageous people who stepped forward to protect our son," she wrote. "You have taken great risk to protect my boy. I will never forget what you've done for him. These people were angels. They saved our son from any further physical abuse and saved his life.

"Our boy is completely defenseless to the world around him. He cannot defend himself. He cannot tell Mommy and Daddy that people are hurting him. The system in place to protect my boy totally failed him. There's something radically, radically wrong with people who would treat a little non-verbal boy like we heard. And there's something radically, radically wrong with people who would cover that abuse up.

"My trust has been shattered," she wrote. "My heart has been shattered. I will never be the same person knowing that my son has been put through this torment for over a year. I feel horribly guilty sending him to such an abusive environment."

In response to Pepper's remarks, board member Heather Reynolds pledged that the board "would take this very seriously as we take the well-being of all of our students ... We heard the concerns. We're aware of the concerns."

Added board member Rick Haring, "We need to be better than this. The district failed me and my wife many years ago. We need to do better as a board and we need to look into this," he said.